In The Passionate Teacher, Ron Fried describes the Game of School (GOS) as what happens when teachers and students forsake intellectual work and instead engage in their classes as rituals. Take this opportunity to consider this chapter in light of some of the the other experiences that you've had this semester. What elements of the game of school are you seeing in your placements? How have you seen teachers fight the game of school in their classes? What similarities, if any, did you see between the descriptions of American classes in the Teaching Gap and the Game of School? Finally, what impact will this description of the GOS have on your own approach to teaching as expressed in your teaching philosophy?
The first thing I noticed when I read The Passionate Teacher was that it was describing my high school experience almost perfectly. I was constantly playing the Game of School (GOS) by trying to see how I could get the best grades possible with as little effort as possible. The GOS is an unspoken agreement between teachers and students to make each other’s lives as easy as possible by creating as little intellectual work for each other as possible and this needs to stop. School should be a place to learn and teach not a place to pretend to learn and pretend to teach.
In my high school I played the GOS and I could also see my teachers playing it as well. For example, I used to get a lot of homework but instead of collecting the work the teacher would simply wander around the room and check for completion. This of course meant that students could write in any old answer with little to no effort and the teacher would never know the difference. I also used to get a lot of exams that were made up entirely of multiple choice questions. This is easier for the student because they need to only recall facts not use higher level thinking skills. It is also easier for the teacher to grade than an exam made of essays and short answer questions.
When comparing the GOS when I was in high school to what I see now at my placement I see that my CT rarely engages in the game. Maybe it is because he is a fairly new teacher and graduated from URI and learned about the GOS and how to avoid it as well. In an exam he gave the other day, there was a mixture of multiple choice questions and essays. When he gives homework, it is meaningful and is always collected as well as graded and feedback is provided. I think the only time I have seen my CT play the game of school is when he gets tired of waiting for a student to answer a question and instead provides the answer for the class. Even at that though most of the time he will prompt the students, rephrase the question, or simply wait for someone to finally answer. The few times I have seen him provide an answer is probably because he needs to keep the class moving to cover material he finds more important. Therefore, I see a drastic improvement in how my CT avoids the game of school from how my own high school teachers engaged in it. I think and hope that as newer teachers fresh out of school join the workforce the GOS will continue to lessen its hold on the American education system.
On the other hand I still see plenty of students trying to play the GOS. For example, when doing in class assignments in groups there is always one member who tries to slack off and simply copy his/her group members work. As I teacher I will try to keep an eye out for this and make sure every group member has clearly defined roles so that this does not happen. I have also observed students trying to copy each other’s homework in advisory. Therefore, as a teacher I will need to make sure students work is authentic.
The Game of School is something that is prevalent in every school in America and has been for a long time. It is tempting for both the teacher and the student to play the game because it makes their lives easier. However, teachers need to remember that by playing the game they are not doing what they set out to do as teachers, facilitate learning. My teaching philosophy focuses on student engagement which is a major anti GOS element. If students are actually engaged in the lesson then they are learning and not pretending to learn. As educational practices continue to improve I believe that the amount of teachers and the amount of times teachers play the GOS will continue to dwindle. However, I think that the students will always want to play the game. Of course there will be a few students who take high school seriously buy a lot of time teenagers think that everything else going on in their life is more important. Therefore, I think that teachers need to not only take any GOS elements out of their teaching but also need to constantly be on the lookout for ways to prevent their students from playing the game.
The first thing I noticed when I read The Passionate Teacher was that it was describing my high school experience almost perfectly. I was constantly playing the Game of School (GOS) by trying to see how I could get the best grades possible with as little effort as possible. The GOS is an unspoken agreement between teachers and students to make each other’s lives as easy as possible by creating as little intellectual work for each other as possible and this needs to stop. School should be a place to learn and teach not a place to pretend to learn and pretend to teach.
In my high school I played the GOS and I could also see my teachers playing it as well. For example, I used to get a lot of homework but instead of collecting the work the teacher would simply wander around the room and check for completion. This of course meant that students could write in any old answer with little to no effort and the teacher would never know the difference. I also used to get a lot of exams that were made up entirely of multiple choice questions. This is easier for the student because they need to only recall facts not use higher level thinking skills. It is also easier for the teacher to grade than an exam made of essays and short answer questions.
When comparing the GOS when I was in high school to what I see now at my placement I see that my CT rarely engages in the game. Maybe it is because he is a fairly new teacher and graduated from URI and learned about the GOS and how to avoid it as well. In an exam he gave the other day, there was a mixture of multiple choice questions and essays. When he gives homework, it is meaningful and is always collected as well as graded and feedback is provided. I think the only time I have seen my CT play the game of school is when he gets tired of waiting for a student to answer a question and instead provides the answer for the class. Even at that though most of the time he will prompt the students, rephrase the question, or simply wait for someone to finally answer. The few times I have seen him provide an answer is probably because he needs to keep the class moving to cover material he finds more important. Therefore, I see a drastic improvement in how my CT avoids the game of school from how my own high school teachers engaged in it. I think and hope that as newer teachers fresh out of school join the workforce the GOS will continue to lessen its hold on the American education system.
On the other hand I still see plenty of students trying to play the GOS. For example, when doing in class assignments in groups there is always one member who tries to slack off and simply copy his/her group members work. As I teacher I will try to keep an eye out for this and make sure every group member has clearly defined roles so that this does not happen. I have also observed students trying to copy each other’s homework in advisory. Therefore, as a teacher I will need to make sure students work is authentic.
The Game of School is something that is prevalent in every school in America and has been for a long time. It is tempting for both the teacher and the student to play the game because it makes their lives easier. However, teachers need to remember that by playing the game they are not doing what they set out to do as teachers, facilitate learning. My teaching philosophy focuses on student engagement which is a major anti GOS element. If students are actually engaged in the lesson then they are learning and not pretending to learn. As educational practices continue to improve I believe that the amount of teachers and the amount of times teachers play the GOS will continue to dwindle. However, I think that the students will always want to play the game. Of course there will be a few students who take high school seriously buy a lot of time teenagers think that everything else going on in their life is more important. Therefore, I think that teachers need to not only take any GOS elements out of their teaching but also need to constantly be on the lookout for ways to prevent their students from playing the game.